WHO DO YOU TRUST?

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For the past few days this week the first reading at mass has been from Chapter 3 of Genesis, the story of "the Fall," when Adam and Eve are expelled from Eden. Reading a footnote on this chapter in the Jerusalem Bible, I came across an interesting take on the events of the Fall: Satan, the deceiver, tricked our first parents into mistrusting God'; it was their fall from "original confidence" in God. 

Satan tells Eve, "No, you won't die if you eat of the fruit of that tree, God is lying to you." When he planted that seed of doubt in their minds, the Deceiver ruined their original confidence in the Lord's goodness and love.

The consequences of the loss of original confidence became quickly apparent , and are still with you and me to this day. God is not completely trustworthy, we can't rely on God for our happiness, so we each have to make our own happiness, our own fulfillment, without reference to a power outside or above ourselves. The Jewish philosopher Spinoza called this our "God project." And we can look around us at the devastation our God projects have caused.

Especially when my problems start to overwhelm me, I don't think about turning to God, the one who lied to Eve in the Garden by telling her that she would die if she ate the fruit of that tree. I have this trust problem with God -- call it a confidence issue. These readings from Genesis occurred at the same time as the horrendous news stories about published lists of priests who have been "credibly accused" of molesting youngsters, or of former Cardinal McCarrick being suspended from the priesthood. These are times when we people of faith need more than ever to return to our "original confidence" in a loving creator who watches over us and who ultimately overcomes every evil that could assail us either as individuals or as the People of God.

While we pray for all of the many people who have been profoundly hurt by these sins, let us pray for ourselves, too, that we we may receive the gift of unshakable confidence in a God who heals every wound and ultimately overcomes every evil.